Matthew 20:1-16; Numbers 13; Numbers 14; Ecclesiastes 9:1-12

1"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard.2He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.3"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.4He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.'5So they went. "He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.6About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'7" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered. "He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'8"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'9"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius.10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.11When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.12'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'13"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius?14Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you.15Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'16"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

1The LORD said to Moses,2"Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders."3So at the LORD's command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.4These are their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur;5from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;6from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;7from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;8from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;9from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;10from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;11from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;12from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;13from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;14from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;15from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.16These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.)17When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, "Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country.18See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many.19What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified?20How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land." (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)21So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath.22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)23When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs.24That place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there.25At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.26They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.27They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.28But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.29The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan."30Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."31But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are."32And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.33We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

1That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.2All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!3Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?"4And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt."5Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there.6Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes7and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.8If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.9Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."10But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites.11The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?12I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they."13Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them.14And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O LORD, are with these people and that you, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.15If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you will say,16'The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert.'17"Now may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as you have declared:18'The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.'19In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now."20The LORD replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked.21Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth,22not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times--23not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.24But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.25Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea."26The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:27"How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites.28So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say:29In this desert your bodies will fall--every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me.30Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.31As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.32But you--your bodies will fall in this desert.33Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert.34For forty years--one year for each of the forty days you explored the land--you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.'35I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die."36So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it--37these men responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD.38Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.39When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly.40Early the next morning they went up toward the high hill country. "We have sinned," they said. "We will go up to the place the LORD promised."41But Moses said, "Why are you disobeying the LORD's command? This will not succeed!42Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies,43for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword."44Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD's covenant moved from the camp.45Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

1So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands, but no man knows whether love or hate awaits him.2All share a common destiny--the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good man, so with the sinner; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them.3This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.4Anyone who is among the living has hope--even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!5For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten.6Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.7Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do.8Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil.9Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun--all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.11I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.12Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.